This invention concerns a connecting device for medical purposes and a protective unit for use in such a device.
WO 92/13590 (corresponds to SE-B-467 769) concerns such a device, wherein a housing is provided with inward sealing surfaces surrounding connecting openings which are adapted to co-operate with outward sealing surfaces surrounding conduit openings on a coupling member which communicates with an external circuit. The sealing surfaces of the housing as well as of the connecting member are covered and protected by protective members in a non-connected position which in the process of connecting are adapted to be removed from and thereby uncover the respective sealing surfaces for achieving a leakproof connection.
The purpose of protecting the sealing surfaces is to avoid contamination of these as well as of the channels and thereby avoid or at least radically reduce the infection risks encountered by a patient using the connecting device.
The device being known from the cited document functions well but is relatively complex, which has resulted in likewise complicated and thereby relatively expensive production.
It is an aim of this invention to set the said problems aside and to provide a development of the known device which with retained high hygienic standard is uncomplicated to produce, simple to handle and possible to produce at a reduced cost.
These aims are achieved in a device as above by the feature of the characterising portion of claim 1.
By the holding elements forming a guide which is open at both ends for parts to be connected (the protective member and the connecting member respectively) it is achieved that the connecting procedure may be accomplished by displacements of the part intended to be connected along said guide in one single displacement movement, whereby with this simple movement, as an example in case of connecting the connecting member, at the same time the protective member is removed from the main body and thereby its active position. The displacement of the connecting member to the connecting position thus results in that co-operation is obtained between the respective sealing surfaces at the same time as the protective body is brought from the position where it protects the second sealing surface (surfaces). It should be noted that a relative movement between the parts is intended and that in practice the protective body may be fixed while the other parts are subject to a movement. When disconnecting the connecting member after completed treatment, the invention provides a corresponding simultaneous placement of the protective member.
The connecting member thus does not have to be brought down into a housing in order to obtain the connecting position, which otherwise is the case with the prior art, where the housing is provided with inward sealing surfaces. This results in considerable simplified manufacture compared to the known device, since the respective sealing surfaces are located on a surface which extends along the guide, resulting in essentially simplified production. A further advantage is that the hygienic standard is further improved, since, according to the invention, no protective lid or the like has to be removed from the main body before the connecting procedure, which thus eliminates the need of exposing the inside of the housing before it is possible to connect the connecting member. Instead connection may be made with a totally xe2x80x9cclosedxe2x80x9d main body. The main body hereby has no movable parts, which results in simplified and more economic manufacture and further better security and higher hygienic standard, in particular when it is applied as an implant.
By the sealing surfaces being plane, manufacture is simplified and the resulting product more economic.
One feature of the invention concerns the use of the device according to the invention as a so called blood vessel valve which is useful for medical purposes where access to the blood stream is desirable, for example when taking samples from the blood stream, administration of different medicals, nutrition, cell treatment, determining of levels of substances in the blood stream etc. The means for supporting growth may be flange-like, longitudinally oriented elements or the like. An implanted main body will have the skin level somewhat above these means and with the upper part with the guide etc. above the skin level and being accessible for connecting the respective elements. The construction according to the invention with an open guide configuration in this connection results in simplified handling for the patient and/or the medical personnel.
In use of the blood vessel valve for CRRT (Chronic Renal Replacement Therapy), blood treatment/dialysis and in a number of different applications i.e. connecting other types of artificial organs than artificial kidneys, in gas exchange such as oxidization etc. there are two coupling means and two first and two second openings in the device according to the invention. The construction of the main body hereby allows effective drawing of channels such as to effectively reduce the flow resistance in the device as a whole. All taken together, the device according to the invention is particularly preferred as a blood vessel valve.
Another feature according to the present invention results in that the coupling means are connected to each other in a simple way when the protective member is placed in its active position which in case of an implant assures that all the time there is a flow through the device, thus eliminating the formation of coagulated blood.
An aspect of the invention which considerably simplifies handling the device is where the protective body thus comprises a guiding means for simplified application, and when lockable and openable fastening means are present for co-operation with the main body, the user thus only needs to activate these means in order to obtain adequate guidance of the connecting member (or any other part), which means that the device will be essentially more simple to handle for the patient himself or the medical personnel in case of an implanted main body.
Another feature according to to the present invention allows direct access to the blood stream through a membrane which is penetratable with an injection needle.
The invention also concerns a connecting unit and a protective unit respectively for the use with a device.